


Semper Ad Paratus

by storybored



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: AU, Canon Divergence, Fluff, Help, Hurt/Comfort, I work until 10p, I wrote most of this last night, Multi, The clave hates everything, We mean well, What sleep schedule?, retelling of season 1, still posting after midnight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24474751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storybored/pseuds/storybored
Summary: Alec Lightwood would do anything for his family, he's not going to let Clary Fray undo all that hard work in the search for her mother. He will bring honor to the Lightwood name no mater the cost
Relationships: Alec Lightwood & Helen Blackthorn, Alec Lightwood & Isabelle Lightwood, Alec Lightwood & Isabelle Lightwood & Jace Wayland, Alec Lightwood & Jace Wayland, Clary Fray & Alec Lightwood, Clary Fray & Luke Garroway
Comments: 13
Kudos: 15





	1. Audentis Fortuna Iuvat

**Author's Note:**

> You guys remember that vine of the little girl trying wasabi for the first time and all she says is a high pitched help? that's me

Alec’s phone buzzed as Luke approached him, he didn’t take it out of his pocket wanting to spare himself the lecture or disappointment that was on the other end,”Where’s Clary?”   
“Izzy and Jace took her deeper into the tunnels to try and avoid the shax demons, I was just about to go catch up with them.” Alec slid the arrow back into it’s quiver,”The Institute isn’t far from here, they probably tried to reconvene there.”

Luke nodded,”Come on then.”

Alec and Luke walked through the tunnels, keeping an ear out for any remaining shax demons. They heard a demonic shriek, running towards it seeing Clary wielding her seraph blade while the demon disintegrated,”Clary!”

”Stay back!” Clary turned, pointing the blade at Alec and Luke, Alec raised an eyebrow as Luke held up his hands in surrender. CLary wasn’t what Alec would call intimidating, she reminded him of Max playing with the practice swords in the training room,”How do I know you’re really Luke?”

Luke approached Clary carefully, his hands up noticing her distress,”I got you spray paint for your birthday. What happened?”

Clary took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down,”Uh, demons. Long story. Um… Where’d you come from?”

Luke sighed,”Jail. I ran into Alec. Said you might be down here. Thought you might need some help.”

Alec looked at the ground as the demon ashes disappeared,”Apparently not. Looks like she took care of it.”

Clary shuffled nervously looking around the tunnels, trying to see if there were any more demons lurking around,”Shouldn’t we get going or something? More demons could be coming, right?”

Luke shook his head,”Oh, don’t worry about it. I got the pack on the lookout. If there’s any other demons, we’ll take care of them.”

Clary smiled at Luke proudly,”Look at you, leader of the pack.”

Luke shrugged, a little modestly,” Well, you know, it has its perks.”

Clary looked between Alec and Luke,”Shall we?”

Alec nodded following Luke and Clary out of the tunnel,”Yeah. Right.” Alec let Clary through the side entrance to the institute with a quick unlocking rune, and she scrambled into the safety of the hallowed walls and to tell Jace she was able to get the cup out of the card, Alec held the door open standing in the door frame,”Luke?”

Luke shook his head,”I’ve got to get back to the pack, keep an eye on her though?”

Alec nodded and went to head inside, and rubbed the back of his head,”Wait, Luke.”

Luke turned back to face Alec,”Something wrong?”

“I’m typically the acting head of the New York Institute and you’re a new pack leader, we should be able to reach each other.” Alec fidgeted with his hands a little nervously. 

Luke nodded, recognizing Alec’s attempt to reach out to connect with another member, another head of the shadow world,”Of course, you know we have the institute’s number at the Jade Wolf right?”   
Alec nodded,”But not my private line, I’m rarely by the institute’s phone…”

“Good plan.”

“Thank you.”

Jace scrolled through the map of Brooklyn highlighting the tunnels he and Izzy had just gotten out of, his anxiety spiking because both Clary and Alec were still missing. He wanted to find them as soon as possible, he would deal with the possible lectures later when Clary was safe with him and Alec was growling at him, which seemed to be the only time Alec talked to him these days,”These tunnels are swarming with Shax demons. If she’s down there, it’s only a matter of time before they find her. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen. All right, listen up. I want this entire Institute on high alert. I don’t care what anybody else says, I’ll take full responsibility. Right now, Clary is the only thing that matters.”   
Clary ran into the Institute’s control room followed by Alec who was lingering on the walkway leaning on the railing,”Jace!”

Jace looked up at the sound of his name, eyes lighting up as Clary ran into his arms,”Clary.”

Clary pulled away from him without breaking his hold on her, as she looked into his eyes,”I did it. I got the Cup.”

Jace kept his voice calm to not betray how nervous he actually was,” I don’t care about the Cup. When I came out of the tunnels, I didn’t see you. I was worried something might have happened—”

Clary shook her head,”There was a demon. Shapeshifter. It looked just like you.”

“You all right?” Jace looked at her trying to see if there were any visible wounds that needed to be taken care of. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” Clary nodded pushing some hair out of her face.

“And the demon?” He raised an eyebrow looking at her curiously. 

“I sent him straight back to hell.” Clary couldn't help the pride that flooded her voice, she killed demons before but never on her own, not without having Jace, Izzy, or Alec near her as backup.

“How’d you know it wasn’t me?” Jace asked, the memory of the slap still stinging his cheek.

“I just knew.” Clary paused for a moment with a small shrug.

Jace made a mental note to approach Clary very carefully if they ever got separated again,“Really? Kind of a risk, wasn’t it?”

Clary rolled her eyes slightly,”Well, this may come as a surprise, but I actually do listen to some of the things you tell me. You just have to pay attention to the details.”

Jace smiled at her,”Yeah, well, I told you the first time we met, you have the Sight. You’re a Shadowhunter, just like the rest of us.”

Clary leaned up kissing Jace, putting her hand on his neck to pull herself as close as possible to him, tired of constantly dancing around each other. Jace froze for a split second when she kissed him, before tangling his hand into her hair. 

Alec’s shoulders slumped slightly as he squeezed the railing, pursing his lips before walking out of the control room, he just wanted to go to bed. He was exhausted, and sore, between slouching to look other people in the eye and the general ulcer inducer that was Clary Fray. He heard the tell tale click of heels,and he continued to walk towards his bedroom, only slowing slightly so she could catch up to him,”What do you want, Izzy?”

“Are you okay?”

  
Alec sighed,”I’m tired, I haven’t slept in two days and Jace is being-”

“Jace?” Alec’s silence was telling as he paused in front of his bedroom door, and Izzy put her hand on his shoulder,”Get some sleep, I’ll make sure the institute doesn’t burn down while you’re asleep.”

Alec scoffed,”Night, Izzy.”

“Night, bro.” Alec walked into his room, unlacing and sliding off his boots and put his bow and quiver on his desk. He walked to his bed discarding his jacket and weapons belt on the floor, a decision that would be regretted tomorrow but he couldn’t bring himself to walk completely across the room to hang them up properly. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and set it on the charger, reading through text and app notifications. A text message caught his attention, they didn’t talk often anymore with Alec running the institute, and she had a small team of siblings to manage, he sank onto his bed face pressed against his satin pillowcase.

_ “We need to talk, call me when you have a minute.” _

Alec debated on calling her, he should call her back but he didn’t have the energy to deal with whatever she had to say at the moment, at the very least he could text her,” _ Can we talk tomorrow? Things have been tense here.” _

Alec set his phone back on his nightstand, he’d check it when she got back to him, but that didn’t necessarily mean he had to actually be up and on his phone to receive a text, he’s a shadowhunter, a vibrating phone will wake him up.


	2. Familia Ante Omnia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY LONG SHIFTS, I LOVE MY LIFE

Jace was itching to see Alec, it was one thing to know your Parabatai was fine and another thing to see it Alec had just gotten that good at hiding himself, Alec hadn’t been fine in a while. His Parabatai rune barely spasmed when Alec was injured anymore, he just needed to make sure Alec was just stressed and not hurting. He pounded on the door,”Alec! Open the door!”

There wasn’t a response, not even a groan or a thunk of something being thrown at the door telling Jace to leave, he opened the door, his voice quiet,”Alec?”

Jace saw Alec asleep on his bed head buried into the pillow, not even under his covers, just passed on the mattress. He poked Alec in the back,”Alec?”   
Alec turned his head, eyes remaining closed as he groaned,”What?”

“We need you in the Control room.”

Alec sighed and pushed himself off the bed, scrubbing his hand through his hair,”Alright, give me five minutes.”

Alec grabbed his stuff off of the floor, zipping up his boots as he stumbled out the door after Jace,”Are you okay?”   
“I haven’t been sleeping.” Alec scrubbed at his face,”It’s nothing.”

“You sure?”   
“Yes. What’s going on in the Control Room?” Alec suppressed his yawn as he looked at Jace,”You two lose the Cup already?”   
“No.” Jace glowered at Alec,” Raj asked me to retrieve you so you could report on the tunnels.”

Alec stares at Jace, carefully, a mask guarding his emotions no matter how tired he felt,”Really? Raj asked?”

Jace pulled ahead of Alec slightly,”Yep.”

Alec rolled his eyes, sighing and straightening his back ready to step back into his role as commander, older brother and tired second in command of the New York Institute.

Alec didn’t pity the decision Clary had ahead of her, it was one of those decisions where there was no right answer. To essentially damn Simon or to let him die, he’d seen freshly turned mundanes and shadowhunters take the change less than well, ashing themselves before their first sundown as a fully fledged vampire. It was best if he left her turmoil to Raphael and Jace, two sides of the decision, a vampire and someone who has come close to being turned a few times.

* * *

A “meeting” with his parents and Izzy never heralded a good thing, last time they had a “meeting” Izzy ended up telling him that their parents wanted him to marry to save the Lightwood name from Clary Fray. He heard his parents arguing in the office again, it was more common than not and if he was younger or paid a little less attention to the “politics” he’d just chalk it all up to the stress from Valentine,”Oh, that’s a joke, Maryse. You and I both know how the Clave handles things.”

Alec pressed his fingers into his hand,”What’s going on?”

Maryse pressed her lips into a tight line and sighed, gesturing to the couch in front of her,”Sit.”

Alec and Izzy sat down, Izzy folded her arms in front of her while ALec kept his hands folded in his lap trying not to fidget. Robert sighed, when it came to these matters it wasn’t surprising that Jace wasn’t there,” It’s no surprise Jace isn’t here.”

Isabelle looked at Alec seeing if he would explain his parabatai’s absence but Alec just stared at their mom expression guarded in preparation for whatever was going to be said,” He got held up. Said to start without him.”   
Maryse sighed, “I’m sure he has a good reason.”

Robert began to speak, only to rephrase himself at his children’s shared look of disbelief,” Your mother and I… Okay, I requested a meeting at the Clave to inform them that the Seelies are siding with Valentine.”

Maryse glanced at her husband not thrilled with the way he was beating around the bush,” And the Clave denied it.”

Alec’s voice was confused,” What do you mean? They don’t want you coming to Idris?”

Maryse looked at her children with skepticism,” There are rumors that local Shadowhunters have been interfering in Downworld affairs. But you two wouldn’t know anything about that, right?”

Isabelle shook her head,” Nada.”

Alec frowned, the picture of innocence,”No.”

Maryse raised an eyebrow at her children,”Since all this happened here in New York, under our command, they are concerned with our devotion to our job and the cause.”

Isabelle couldn’t keep her voice from filling with disbelief,”But we’re the Lightwoods.”

Robert’s voice was stern yet gentle, his usual tone with Izzy,” Remember, the honor isn’t in the name… it’s in the deed. The Clave is sending an envoy.”

Maryse straightened her spine,”Who will be coming to observe us.”

Robert tapped his fingers on the desk,”And to gather information about Valentine to report back.”

Maryse shared a look with Alec, and cleared her throat, taking on her typical commander voice,”But really to scrutinize our leadership, so I beg of the two of you, don’t do anything that would cause the Clave to lose even more trust in us.”

Alec and Izzy looked at each other and Alec felt his migraine come back with the news. A dull throbbing pain settling in his temple and jaw. Isabelle raised her chin meeting Maryse’s gaze,”What do you need us to do?”   
“You’re going to keep an eye on Clary. Alec is going to do his job as the head of the institute and greet the envoy from the Clave and show them that us Lightwoods are still doing our job properly.” Maryse’s voice was full of unbending iron,”Understand?”

Alec and Isabelle nodded, Alec looked between his parents carefully,”Do we know who the envoy is?”

“No, but I know you’re close to Consul Penhallow’s daughter, possibly you could reach out to her and see if she knows or has heard anything.”

“Of course, mother.” Alec brushed his pocket looking for his phone, before remembering he left it on his nightstand before Jace retrieved him and Raphael brought Simon to the basement with information about Camille breaking the accords yet again.

Maryse smiled, satisfied with the answers,”Good, you're both dismissed. Do tell Jace we’re still wanting to talk to him.”

Izzy stood up and walked out the door as Alec nodded,” Yes, mother.”

Izzy gripped Alec’s arm tightly as he walked out of the office,”Ow, Isabelle.”

“Why do you let her do that to you?”

“Because I follow orders, now go find Jace and Clary and I’ll see if I can reach Aline to see if she’s over heard anything from Jia.”

* * *

Alec didn’t exactly mind his little brother trailing him as he walked around the Command center making sure everything was prepared for the Clave’s envoy, he had yet to hear anything back from Aline but it was also past midnight in Alicante and he had little reason to expect her to be awake at this time, especially when the last he heard from her, Helen was visiting. He wished he could say he didn’t know Max had an ulterior motive for trailing him but he learned that from both Isabelle and Jace encouraging his bad habits.

Max looked up at his brother, equipping the puppy dog eyes that worked well on his sister,”Alec, you think you could get my stele back?”

Alec sighed,”They took it away because you nearly burned down the Mumbai Institute.”

Max groaned,”How many times do I have to say it was an accident?

Alec crouched down so he could look his brother in the eye,” Look, Max. Somebody very important is coming to visit. All right? You think you can stay out of trouble for just a couple days? If you do, I promise I’ll get your stele back.”

The institute doors slid open and Alec had an arrow nocked and fired before he had completely straightened out, somehow Valentine had gotten into the institute. Valentine caught Alec’s arrow and he had another one ready to fire before Valentine paused in the hallway and pulled up his sleeve activating the shapeshifting rune on his forearm, transforming into a smaller tanned woman with golden ringlets pulled out of her face with a clip, bright blue green eyes and pointed ears.

“That reaction time was abysmal. Alec, always nice to see you again. Heard you were in need of an envoy from the Clave.” She had a small smile on her face as she stared at Alec.

“Helen… I wasn’t expecting it to be you.” Alec swallowed slightly, hands twitching.

“Should’ve returned a girl’s calls, I might’ve thought you were avoiding me.”

“I was busy. I do have an institute to run.” Alec hugged her shouldering his bow again.

Helen laughed,“I know, the responsibility looks good on you.” Helen ruffled Max’s hair,”Max, heard you tried to burn down the Mumbai institute.”

“That was an accident.”   
“So Drusilla and Ariadne have said. Something about a nourishment rune?”   
“They look similar.”

“Mhm, and the soundless rune looks like courage in combat?”   
“See? She understands.”

Alec looked at Helen critically, as she shrugged,”Hey, when you have seven siblings you get used to rune blindness.”

Helen walked past ALec and Max, smiling at Maryse and Isabelle who were walking into the command center, keeping her tone cordial and polite,”Maryse. The Clave has ordered me to take temporary control of this Institute.”

Alec’s eyes widened,”Helen!”

Maryse walked down the steps, voice full of controlled simmering anger,”Wait a minute. Nobody informed us.”

Helen gave Maryse a placating smile, tucking a blonde ringlet behind her ear,”The Clave doesn’t need to. And, to repeat myself, it’s temporary. But I do need full clearance in order to assess how this Institute is running.”

Isabelle had her arms crossed in front of her, and gave Helen a dirty look,”So how’d you get the position?”

“I volunteered for it, us Blackthorns have always been allied with the Lightwoods. I thought it would be best for a familiar face to help run things.” Helen glanced around the room before activating a command code on the monitor with her stele,”Where is Clarissa Morgenstern? I would hope someone here knows.”

Isabelle looked off to the side and muttered,”Run into the ground, maybe.”

Helen’s smile widened at Isabelle, few people understood how good her hearing actually was. Alec folded his arms behind his back,”She’s in the field, training.”

Helen raised an eyebrow at Alec,”You’re telling me you just let her run around the streets of New York? Valentine’s daughter? Who we know barely anything about?”

Alec squinted at her, he knew that she wasn’t accusing him of incompetence but she had her orders, feelings and relationships be damned,”She’s with Jace.”

Helen shot Alec a skeptical look,” Your Jace? The same guy who has led several unsanctioned missions for her? I’ve read the reports.”

Maryse followed Helen to the training room,”Jace might be unconventional, but he’s our best soldier. If he’s with Clary, then she’s in good hands. Not just  _ running around. _ ”

Helen sighed,” I hope so. I’d hate for something to jeopardize the institute and the protection it offers, especially over Valentine’s daughter.”

“I’d offer to show you around the institute, but I know you’re familiar with the institute’s layout. Raj will make sure you have the necessary clearance.” Maryse waved her hand calling Raj over to them.

Izzy had her arms crossed,”She’s supposed to be our friend.”

“She has her orders.” Alec glanced at his sister,”Are you jealous?”

“No… Maybe, how the hell did she catch that arrow?”

“You used to date Mark. You know what he’s like.” Alec’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out making an interested noise,”Mother, Helen. There’s something you need to see, something attacked the Jade Wolf.”

Alec pulled up the photos of the Forsaken soldier that Luke had sent him, Maruyse glanced between the screen and her son,”The werewolves’ headquarters? How did you get these?”

“Leader of the New York pack sent them to me, and wanted me to check it out.”

Helen raised an eyebrow at Alec and Maryse,”You’re still friends with Lucian Graymark? Valentine's former parabatai?”

Maryse’s lips curled slightly,” How about we send Isabelle and Alec to investigate? I’m sure this is linked to–”

Helen’s voice was hollow, and her hand touched the silver choker she was wearing, fingers running over the stylized leaves,” Valentine. I need to see it for myself. Are you coming?”

Alec followed behind her ignoring the accusatory glare Maryse was leveling at Helen and Izzy’s sour look.

* * *

Alec looked at Helen as they walked towards the Jade Wolf,”You want to talk about why you’re in New York? There’s more to it than just volunteering for the position, you’re wearing Mark’s choker. Is everything okay in Los Angeles? Last time I heard from you, you were with Aline in Alicante.”

Helen sighed, fingers touching the largest leaf pressed against her throat,”Alicante is Alicante. Los Angeles is fine. Julian and Emma are thinking about becoming Parabatai, Dad wants them to come here so they can observe parabatai in action.”

“We’d be happy to have them, though I don’t know if Jace and I are the best example of Parabatai at the moment.” Alec smiled weakly as Helen bumped her knuckles against the back of his hand.

“Clarissa Morgenstern?” Helen knew Jace and knew the answer.

“Just Jace thinking with his stele, what else is new?” 

“Speaking of steles, you’re quite the hot topic in Alicante. Something about you looking for a wife?”

Alec swore quietly,”Damn it.”

“Not your idea?”

“No, you know my parents.”

Helen put a hand on Alec’s back,”I’m sorry Alec.”

Alec paused outside the Jade Wolf,”I’ll find my way out of it, don’t worry about me.”

He held the door open for her as Luke stood up to greet them, while one of the pack members was bandaging his wounds. Luke smiled and held a hand out for Alec to shake,”Alec, who's your friend?”

Helen was crouched near the Forsaken, examining it, and she glanced up at Luke,”Helen Blackthorn, Clave envoy.”

Luke looked at her closely, noting her pointed ears, golden hair and bright blue green eyes, but didn’t say anything, there was only one Blackthorn he knew of who would have the possibility of having a fae daughter,”Andrew’s daughter?”

Helen nodded,”Yes, and I know all about you, Mr. Garroway.”

Luke crouched near her rubbing his wrist while Alec was checking out the mace the forsaken had used to try to try to attack the werewolves,”There shouldn’t have been an, It shouldn’t have gotten so close without alerting one of the wolves on patrol, unless it was somehow portaled in.”

Helen saw the circle rune on it’s throat,”It has characteristics of a forsaken it was runed, and human at one point. It also appears to be , It seems to be wearing a uniform of some sort.”

Luke frowned,”I don’t know. It was more focused, more determined. It attacked like it had a plan. Plus, a normal Forsaken wouldn’t have been so hard to kill. It took five wolves to take that thing down. Never seen anything like it.

Helen rubbed her face,”We can take the body to the institute, do a full autopsy.”

Luke held a hand up as Alec came to join them, Mace still in hand, Helen paused and looked up at him,”Oh, hold up. I get that I called you… Actually, I called Alec. But what I didn’t want is a shadowhunter to come down here and just take over.”

Alec smiled slightly,”Yeah, if it makes you feel better she’s done that since we were little.”

Helen scowled at Alec,”We’re all on the same side here. Can we agree on that? The Institute has the resources to find out whatever  _ this _ is. It’s also out of your pack’s way.”

Alec ignored the scowl,”We have an expert forensic pathologist. Highly trained in all the creatures of the Shadow World. I can have her get into contact with you with her findings, if you’d like.”

“Deal.”

“You think Valentine was behind this?”

“No question. It’s definitely his work.” Luke took a deep breath,”Reminds me of the old days, his old experiments.” 

“What do you think he’s after?

“Honestly? Me.”

“Do you think Valentine is going after you as his parabatai or as a former Circle member, maybe he’s trying to get the old gang back together?” Helen furrowed her brow trying to piece together a mad man’s reasoning. Her father always said that the only thing more difficult to understand than a seelie’s reasoning was Valentine’s. It was moments like these that she was glad that her father spoke about the circle fairly openly.

Luke shrugged, ”I don’t know. It might be kind of personal. We have a complicated past. But of course, he could be going after the old crew. I’m sure Valentine has a grudge against anybody who turned against him.”

“We’ll have to extra wards around the Institute.” Helen looked at Alec,”You’d know who’s best for the job.”

Alec nodded,” Right, for Hodge.”

“And your parents.” Helen’s eyes widened at Alec’s attempt at muted surprise,”Did they not tell you?”

Alec’s voice was stern,”No. They didn’t.”

Alec turned on his heel, blowing past two werewolves who tried to scramble out of the way of a shadowhunter with murder written across his face. Helen turned to Luke, voice hurried,”I’ll send some people to collect the body. It was nice to meet you.”

* * *

Alec looked at the body of the forsaken, they always seemed to decay much faster than anything from this dimension should be capable of doing. Helen fidgeted playing with her choker,”I reached out to the High Warlock to see if Valentine was messing with magic when he made this.”

Alec glanced up at Helen,”Magnus Bane?”

Helen raised an eyebrow at Alec, she was familiar with that tone. Both saying it and hearing it,”You know him well?”

“Not well, we’ve- uh, we’ve met a few times. He gave Izzy her new necklace and he was the one who removed Clary’s memories of our world.”

“What did you think of him?”

“He’s um… quite magical. He’s, uh, very… very good at magic, but he’ll help.”

“Do you mind calling him for me?” 

“Of course not, don’t want your family history to taint your first meeting?”

“You have an ancestor ask a warlock to bring back one person and suddenly everyone looks at you like you’re the crazy one.”

“Well… they have a point.”

“Hey, She was one of you first.”

Alec shrugged,”We mean well.”

“You always mean well.” Helen gave a tense smile, her tone apprehensive,”Look, I didn’t know Robert and Maryse didn’t tell you. I thought they would've, or maybe you figured it out.”

Alec grimaced,”Why would they? The fact that they were a part of The Circle ruins their perfectly cultivated image. Look, I’ll call Magnus, you talk to the Clave?”

Alec smiled at her, a soft placating smile, a smile she recognized. Alec’s way of silently and politely asking her to stop talking about it, a look she recognized from her father when Mark would talk about their mother. He scrubbed a hand through his hair,”If we have a chance, dinner tonight?”

“You bring, I’ll buy, Lightwood.”

* * *

Jace followed Clary into the Jade Wolf eyes widening at the mess, lingering in the doorway as the members of the wolf pack tried to clean up the mess from the fight that went down. Clary ran into Luke’s arms hugging him tightly,”Luke, are you okay?”

Jace looked around the restaurant and at some of the remaining pack members getting patched up, “What happened?”

Luke sighed,”Uh… you should see the other guy. We were attacked by a Forsaken, if you can even call it that. Anyway, it’s dead. It looks worse than it was.”

Clary pulled away looking at the bandages and Luke’s torn blue shirt,”Luke, you’re hurt.”

Luke gripped his wrist,”Uh, no. Already healed. Perks of being a werewolf. Anyway, I called Alec. He and the new clave envoy already took the Forsaken back to the Institute for an autopsy.”

Jace nodded,”We’ve got the best forensic pathologist in New York.”

Luke gave Jace a hard look,”Yeah, so I’ve heard. Clary, what are you doing here? Now that you have the Cup, you know you should be back at the Institute, protected.”

Jace raised his hands defensively,”I haven’t taken my eyes off her.”

Clary’s voice was shaking,” I needed to see you. Luke, it’s Simon. He’s, um… Luke, he’s dead. He was killed by vampires.”

Luke pulled Clary close to him as she started to cry,”Oh, God. I’m sorry.”

Jace lingered in the corner of the Jade Wolf, messing with his phone trying to get in contact with Alec or Isabelle, even though he knew it was futile to talk to Isabelle when she had a body to investigate,”Luke, what do I do? If I bring Simon back, then…”

Luke kept his voice gentle,” He’ll be a vampire. A Downworlder. And for me, It wasn’t easy going from a revered Shadowhunter to a… werewolf. Especially back then, I was no longer a shadowhunter and was left with nothing. Suddenly, I was foraging for food, unable to control my own body. I lost my family, my friends.”

“But not my mom.” 

Luke held a steel dagger, a quick glance could make you think it was a type of special hunting knife, and shook his head,”No. Jocelyn never abandoned me. Having you and Jocelyn in my life kept me from using this. Knowing that you both needed me.”

Clary grabbed Luke’s hand and squeezed,”I will never stop needing you.”

Luke sighed, “Clary… you know I love Simon like a son. If you decide to bring him back, just know that his journey won’t be easy. So make sure you do it for him, and not yourself.”

* * *

Alec was thrilled that the training room was abandoned, he didn’t want to deal with people, he just wanted to punch his feelings into making sense, he looked up as he heard the sound of dress shoes on tile. ”Magnus.”

“Okay, I’m back.” Magnus looked at Alec as he stopped the punching bag, and grabbed a hoodie pulling it on,”Oh, you don’t have to get dressed up for me. Fine. But I liked what I saw. I have the preliminary autopsy findings.”

“Why are you giving these to me? They should go to the head of the Institute.” Alec held the autopsy report.

Magnus nodded,”And it is.”

Alec sighed, hand fidgeting,” I’m not. And I never will be. Magnus, it’s like… it’s like my whole life… has been a lie. Now everything I’ve ever known is…”

“It’s not what you thought.”

Alec’s voice was breathless,”I’ve done everything for my parents… for the Clave and… I’ve done everything that they’ve asked.”

Magnus put a hand on Alec’s shoulder,”Maybe you should start living for yourself. Do what’s in your heart.”

Alec nodded,”I can’t believe I’m saying this. I think you’re right.”

Magnus smiled at Alec, as Alec gave a slight grin, he knew what he wanted to do now for himself, for once he wanted to be selfish.

* * *

Alec went to walk into the office but paused hearing Helen’s stressed tone, and his parents’ sharp voices.

Helen’s voice was fae formal, ”The Clave has spoken. They will be taking full control of the Institute.”

Maryse’s voice was soft while still keeping her usual steel edge,”I’m begging you. You can punish us, but our children did nothing wrong. They’ve worked so hard–”

“This isn’t meant to be a punishment, the Clave wants to help with the investigation and hunt for Valentine. With everything that’s happened here in New York, plus your history with the Circle, now Valentine’s return. The Clave believes the Institute’s at risk, and wants to cover their bases.”

Robert’s voice was cold,”We’ve been trying to stop Valentine. What has the Clave done? The answer is nothing. He’s growing in strength. They’re more concerned about removing us from the Institute, then actually finding him.”

Maryse’s voice was razor sharp,”Robert.”

“Sed Lex, Dura lex.” Helen pursed her lips and sighed,”I might have a loophole-”

Helen looked up at Alec rapping his knuckles against the door frame, he entered the office, holding the folder,”I have the preliminary results from Magnus. No magic was used in creating the Forsaken.”

Helen looked at Alec,” So what made it?”

Alec shrugged,”Izzy is still running tests, but no warlock or faerie magic.”

Alec passed the report to Maryse before sitting on the edge of the desk, Maryse studied the report with Robert at her shoulder. Helen’s hand nervously tapped at the desk, and Alec slid his hand over her’s squeezing slightly. She hated this as much as the rest of them but she didn’t get to speak her true feelings about it, if she did her loyalties would be further called into question.

* * *

Alec sighed as he rubbed his shoulder, the forsaken broke his ribs and tore the muscle in his arm. He was exhausted and just wanted a burger and maybe a nap. He looked at Helen leaning on the table, looking through reports on one of the tablets in a black dress, and high heels. A switch flip from the tailored navy blue pinstripe suit, it wasn’t quite her. It reminded Alec of when they were younger and Alec would sit at his father’s desk writing fake memos and Helen would try her hand at “running” the institute, even dressing in Eleanor’s suits,”You changed?”

“So did you.”

“My shirt has a hole from where I was hit with a mace, forgive me.” Alec pushed his sleeves up his arms,” Doesn’t explain your wardrobe change.”

“Heard the world famous Alec Lightwood was offering to take me out on the town. Wanted to look nice.” 

“There’s a nice french restaurant I want to try, and my siblings are-”

“Ruffians?”

“Exactly.”

* * *

Alec smiled at Helen as she fiddled with her necklace, huffing a laugh,”You take me to a nice restaurant in Manhattan and you order a burger.”

Alec laughed,”What can I say, I’m a New Yorker. So Alicante is Alicante? Trouble in paradise?”

“Aline and I broke up.” Helen frowned,”Duty comes first, and nothing matters to the two of us then family.”

Alec reached his hand across the table and squeezed hers tightly,”That’s not all that’s eating at you is it?”

“Your big brother senses are impeccable, Alec.” Helen sighed,”Julian is being groomed to take over the institute. The Clave won’t let someone like me run it. And Mark-”

“Doesn’t have the patience?”

“Has the worst traits of our parents. I volunteered to come here so I could, I don’t know? Prove my worth? Maybe if I could see how the perfect lightwoods do things it’d put a good word in my file. It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid. You just, you’ll always be on the outside looking in, it makes sense that you’d want to be on the inside, even if it was as the enforcer of the law.” Alec sighed,”With people like us, we run the biggest risk of losing everything by going after what we want.”

Helen sucked in a breath looking at the candle on the table,”How is it you always manage to solve other people’s problems?”

“It takes my mind off my own.” Alec was silent for several moments as Helen picked at her burrata and tomato salad,”I might have a plan, and we both can benefit.”

Helen looked up at him curiously,”How?”

“My parents want me to get married to restore the family name, you want a chance to run the institute, the Blackthorns are an old respected family, how many other families have two, soon to be three Institutes between three generations?” Alec tugged his family ring off,”And romantically speaking the two of us are perfectly suited for each other, political marriages aren’t uncommon. We could protect each other from the Clave and get to run the institute on our own terms.”

Helen sucked in a breath,”Alec?”

Alec knelt in front of Helen putting a hand on her knee and held out the Lightwood ring,”Helen Atalana Blackthorn, will you marry me, Alexander Gideon Lightwood?”

Helen’s eyes widened, and she slid her hand over Alec’s, he wasn’t just asking her to marry her he was asking the same question he did whenever he was leading her into the demon’s nest, _ ’Do you trust me?’ _ . There was only one answer,”Of course, Alec, always.”

**Author's Note:**

> ...and then he didn't


End file.
